Anti-genre Westerns, you’ve never seen them before

Keith 2022-01-04 08:02:36

First published on the public account "Shadow Detective" ID: ttyingtan

Weibo: Detective Inspector

Author: Sister Stone

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Speaking of Western movies is really bloody, violent, and enjoyable.

For example, the classic Western movie "Red Dead Redemption" and "Western World", which has been so popular in recent years .

"Red Dead Redemption" "Westworld"

But today this movie has subverted the audience's perception of Western films.

"I have never seen such a western movie", "anti-genre victory".

Just follow Sister Shitou to know how subversive it is!

"The Sisters Brothers"

The Sisters Brothers

2018.9.2

The director of the film is the French film master Jacques Odia .

In 2009, he won the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival for the crime film "Prophet"; in 2012, he won the Caesar Award for "Rust and Bone".

This time, he challenged Western films and won the best director of the Venice International Film Festival in one fell swoop .

"The Prophet" "Rust and Bone"

The cast can be said to be the actor's army , gorgeous~

John C. Reilly , who has always been active in the field of comedy, has a gold medal supporting role, was nominated for the Golden Globe Award, and won the best actor in the Boston Film Critics.

Jacques Phoenix , the representative of the powerful actor, the best actor in Cannes, Venice, the Golden Globes, the Academy Awards and other major awards have won them all over.

Jack Gyllenhaal was well-known for his "Brokeback Mountain" directed by Ang Lee, and later became popular with works such as "Love and Elixir" and "Nocturnal Animals".

Riz Ahmed , Emmy Award for Best Actor, he is also the big boss in this year's "Venom".

Top left: John C. Reilly, top right: Jacques Phoenix Bottom left: Jack Gyllenhaal, bottom right: Riz Ahmed

Killer·Detective·Thief

>>>>Killer

The story takes place in Oregon in 1851, where there are a pair of famous killer brothers-the Histers brothers.

They are a pair of brothers.

My brother's name is Avery.

He is prudent and cautious in his actions, but he is never merciless when it comes to killing.

He always wanted to wash his hands in the golden basin and find a woman to live a stable life with him.

Avery, played by John C. Reilly

The younger brother's name is Charlie.

He is cruel and wayward, often drinking and making troubles, and he is very restless.

He has always disagreed with the idea of ​​his brother returning to hermitage, thinking that the two brothers could not lead the lives of ordinary people.

Charlie, played by Jacques Phoenix

At the beginning of the film, the audience was shown the bloody violence of western films, but it did not use the blood and blood methods of conventional western films.

The Sisters brothers received a business.

The brothers found the farm where the hunting target was located, and started fighting before dawn.

Before dawn, there was a desolate and cruel beauty in the light of the twinkling gunpowder under the night before it had time to recede .

The rush ended soon.

The employer only pays for the life of one person, but the brothers buy one and get one free.

They washed the entire farm with blood, and finally set off a big fire.

Professional, quick, bloody, brutal...

The story of this film mainly talks about a new business received by the killer brothers. The employer is the famous local villain-the commander.

There was a gold digger who didn't want to live anymore and dared to steal things from the commander. The commander asked the killer brother to kill the thief.

>>>>Detective

The commander also brought in detectives to track down the gold thief.

The detective's name is Morris .

Morris is smart and keen. Although he has worked for the villain commander, he has a human nature and conscience deep in his heart.

Morris, played by Jack Gyllenhaal

The hunt for the gold thief is divided into two lines : Morris's tracking line and the Sisters brothers' pursuit line .

Morris trailed ahead, and the Sisters brothers followed closely behind.

Morris, who has a strong business ability, followed the crowd of gold rushes and quickly found his goal.

>>>>Thief

This gold thief is called Worm .

He is short and thin , and his small body is like others to be a gold digger, too hard.

Worm has no friends, no luggage, no money, where is the thing he stole?

Worm, played by Ritz Ahmed

The clever Morris not only found Worm, but also managed to get close to him, pretending to go with him along the way.

While looking at Worm, Morris sent a letter to the killer brothers and asked them to catch up.

However, while traveling with Worm , Morris discovered the truth about Worm being hunted down.

Thin Worm is neither a gold digger who pans for gold by brute force, nor a thief.

Worm is a chemist.

The real reason why Worm was hunted down was that he discovered a chemical equation that could easily find gold!

At that time, gold panning could only rely on hard labor and luck.

In other words, whoever owns the formula discovered by Worm can get rich!

It seems that the real purpose of the commander is to discover the equation of gold.

Morris, who had guessed the truth, remained silent.

However, Worm, who was hunted down, was full of vigilance, and he still discovered Morris' true identity.

Morris could only tie up Worm and wait for the arrival of the killer brother...

The killer brother on the other side has no idea what happened.

They met a lot of interesting people on their way to catch up, interesting things, and they could make a road movie.

They met the thief first.

On the way the two brothers were chasing, they ate and slept in the woods.

That night, his brother Avery went to sleep with his mouth open, and the spider ran into his mouth and was swallowed in his sleep (on the importance of shutting up...).

As a result, Ai Li swollen into a Tibetan mastiff the next day...

Avery's physical condition does not allow him to hurry, and the two brothers can only stay in the woods for one more night.

That night, Avery, who was dazed by the poison, seemed to hear howling.

In a trance, he seemed to see a dismembered human body.

It turned out that a horse thief visited at night and was cleaned up by his younger brother Charlie.

Avery almost recovered, and the two packed their bags and continued on the hunt.

This time, they went to a small town called Mayfield and checked into an inn called Mayfield .

They also met a woman named Mayfield .

Countless friends watching the film must have thought, this woman is definitely not easy!

Sure enough, Mayfield hired a group of people to kill the brothers.

Who is this woman named Mayfield?

Why is she killing these brothers?

Although the two brothers are masters on the road, there are a lot of each other.

Can the two brothers leave this town alive?

The transmission of black humor and civilization

This film subverts a distinctive feature of Western films-the whole film is full of black humor.

The killer brothers contributed most of the laughter in the film.

During the hunt, the killer brother walked into a grocery store, and his brother Avery found a novel thing that looked like a small brush.

That's right!

It is the toothbrush of the early years.

I heard that this thing can keep your breath fresh.

In order to please women, Avery bought it without hesitation!

Before watching Avery brushing our teeth, we never knew that brushing can be so funny (Sister Shishi laughed through the screenshots of the whole process).

Brush, smell, breath is so fresh~

The two brothers continued on their way, and when they passed through San Francisco, they were frightened by the bustling city of San Francisco.

It was completely different from the backward Oregon. At that time, San Francisco was already full of prosperity and entered the modern civilized society.

The two brothers checked into a super high-end hotel.

How high-end is it?

It is equipped with a flush toilet and a bathroom with hot water.

There was no such advanced equipment in the Midwest at that time.

This time Avery discovered the benefits of the flush toilet again!

Pull the white handle that controls the flush with your hand to flush!

amazing! so fun!

In addition to being funny, we also see from these details the civilization change in American society at that time.

Since the end of the 18th century, the United States has launched a century-long westward movement.

The gold rush (1848-1855) is also an important part of it.

The story of this film took place in 1851, the hottest gold rush.

We have seen from many details in the film how civilization was passed to the Midwestern United States.

The film even borrowed Morris's mouth to explain how the barren land of the Midwest was transformed into a town in a matter of months.

In the context of the Westward Movement, with the spread of civilization, human behavior and dreams will also change.

If Avery learns to use toothbrushes and flush toilets, they are just changes in the behavior of people who stay on the surface.

Then the dream of the chemist Worm has changed with the times.

He was already thinking about how to end the barbaric era in the west.

Doesn't the director want to show the process of the gradual passing of the violent era in the west?

Native family and human salvation

This film subverts another distinguishing feature of Western films-the ubiquitous humanity and warmth.

The bloody violence in this western film was completely diluted by the family affection between the killer brothers and the deep warmth of human nature.

Although his brother Avery is a killer, he is actually gentle.

This can be seen from his attitude towards his rotten horse, the bathtub .

Although the tub is a rotten horse, it has been with Avery for a long time.

When the bathtub died, Avery was very sad, and sat alone by the river for a long time.

This is enough to see the kindness and delicacy of Avery.

So why did Avery take the killer path?

I'm afraid it's because of my younger brother Charlie.

The death of the bathtub caused Avery to open the conversation.

It turned out that the younger brother Charlie killed their biological father.

It is easy to guess that the original family of the brothers is not happy.

They have a very cruel father.

One day my brother couldn't stand it anymore and killed his own father.

Looking at the younger brother who had fallen into the abyss because of this, the older brother felt that he could not shirk the blame.

Since then, the two brothers have started a wandering journey of being killers.

In addition to the brothers in this film, chemist Worm also came out to work alone because he couldn't find his place at home.

Detective Morris also hates his native family and has been shackled by his native family for a long time.

Many things Morris did, such as serving his life for the commander, were the result of hatred towards his father.

It wasn't until Morris met Worm, who was kind and full of ideals, that he could see through all this.

The influence of the native family on people has been discussed countless times.

What is surprising is that we actually saw such a profound discussion in a Western movie!

At the beginning of the movie, the gunfight of the Sisters brothers was hearty, showing the bloody excitement of the western film.

Watching the film along with the director, the frequent black humor in the film has subverted the audience's usual impression of Western films.

But behind the black humor, what we see is the demise of the era of violence in the western United States and the passing of civilization.

Another point that shocked the audience is undoubtedly the human warmth that is everywhere in the film.

The four protagonists, the killer brothers, the chemist, and the detective, all have unhappy childhoods. They have been fighting with their native families and looking for self-salvation along the way.

Civilization has been developing, human behavior has been changing under the background of the times, and human self-salvation has never stopped.

The film tells a story that seems to be a distant era. In fact, similar stories happen around us. It is worth seeing and thinking.

Text/Sister Stone

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Extended Reading
  • Rowan 2022-04-20 09:02:05

    A very special western movie, in which a kind older brother becomes a killer in order to protect his violent younger brother. The story always has a kind of unresolved poetry. It is told in a leisurely manner on a beautiful wasteland. It is impossible to guess the ending, but always Able to save danger. At the end, the two returned to their mother's side, lying on the bed and letting the childhood sunshine soothe everything.

  • Freddie 2022-04-23 07:03:15

    Odia gives the intuitive impression that he likes to play mixed and mixed, but its essence is not anti-type, but to modify the type with his inherent literary style, so his movies always have some strange variations, this kind of "one trick" Obviously not equivalent to a complete makeover, in fact his moves tend to make him a bit old.

The Sisters Brothers quotes

  • Charlie Sisters: Alright. You're not going to like what comes next. Open your safe.

    Mayfield: No. Never.

  • Charlie Sisters: We're the Sisters brothers. S-I-S-T-E-R-S, like sisters.